Buggy-top rail



(No Model.)

A. A. MOORE.

BUGGY TOP RAIL.

No. 574,853. Patented Jan. 5, 1897.

Wih esses ALFRED ABIGAH MOORE, OF HIGH POIN", NORTH CAROLINA.

BUGGY- -TOP RAlL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,853, dated January5, 1897.

Application filed May 22. 1896. Serial No. 592,677. (No model.)

10 61/ whom, it may concern,-

Be it kn own that I, ALFRED ABIGAH MOORE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at High Point, in the county of Guilford and State ofNorth Carolina, have invented a new and useful Buggy-Top Rail, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to buggy-tops; and the object in View is toprovide an improved buggy-top rail by means of which the buggytop can bequickly and readily removed from the buggy-seat and replaced thereonwith ease and despatch. The operation of removing and replacing thecarriage-top is effected by means of a single turnbuckle, with the aidof which the buggy-top rail, which is made in two sections, may beexpanded or contracted so as to place the same in engagement with ormove the same out of engagement with suitable stay-arms or keepersattached to the seat.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel features and detailsof construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafterparticularly described, illustrated in the drawings, and finally pointedout in the claim hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buggyor carriage seat, showing the rail connected thereto by the improvedmeans. Fig. 2 isa bottom plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view of one of the stay-irons or keepers and a portion ofthe rail disassociated.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a buggy or carriage seatprovided at its ends and rear side with stay-irons or keepers 2,permanently fastened thereto. Each of said stayirons projects beyond theedge of the seat and has an expanded or enlarged end portion 3, in whichis formed a keyhole or T-shaped slot 4, the purpose of which willhereinafter appear.

The slots 4 of all of the stay-irons, with the exception of the frontones only, are arranged with their enlarged ends toward the center ofthe seat 1 and with the narrow portions thereof extending in oppositedirections or away from the center of the seat. The slots of the frontpair of stay-irons have their enlarged ends disposed rearwardly, whilethe narrow portions thereof extend forward. The buggytop rail 5 extendsin the usual manner around three sides of the seatviz., the rear sideand the endsand is provided with suitable extensions 6 for theattachment of the bows of the top.

For the purpose of carrying out the present invention the rail 5 isdivided centrally at the rear of the seat, and the adjacent ends of thedivided portions are provided with right and left hand screw-threads,respectively, adapting them to be engaged by a turnbuckle 7, havingflattened or wrench-engaging surfaces 8 for the application of awrench.The rail is also provided upon its under side with pendent T-shapedstuds 9, corresponding in number and location to the stay-irons 2, theheads of said studs being adapted to be received through the enlargedends of the slots 4, after which the shanks of the studs may be movedinto the narrow portions of said slots, while the heads of the studsengage beneath the enlarged ends 3 of the stay- 1rons.

In applying the buggy or carriage top to the seat the forward pair ofstuds 9 are entered through the enlarged portions of the slots 4 of thefront pair of stay-irons, the rail 5 being then moved forward until theshanks of the studs pass into the narrow portions of the slots. Theremaining studs are now passed through the enlarged portions of theirrespective slots 4, and thereafter the turnbuckle 7 is rotated in suchmanner as to expand the rail or to move the sections thereof apart,which carries the shanks of the studs into the narrow portions of theslots 4, the heads of the studs then preventing the displacement of therail. By reversing the operation just described the rail and attachedtop may be readily removed.

The means for attaching and detaching the buggy-top rail, as abovedescribed, are very simple and eifective and may be used in con nectionwith any form of seat or vehicle. The adjustment of the rail is effectedby means of a single nut or turnbuckle, thus rendering the task ofremoving and replacing the top extremely easy and simple, as comparedwith the ordinary means heretofore employed.

It will be understood that the device is susceptible of various changesin the form, proportion, and minor details of construction, which mayaccordingly be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is A seatprovided with stay-irons projecting outward therefrom at the rear andsides thereof, said stay-irons being provided with T- shaped slots, theirons at the rear of the seat having the enlarged portions of the slotsfacing inward toward each other, the slots of the stay-irons on eachside being disposed at right angles to each other, in combination with asectional top rail having T-headed studs for engaging said slots, andmeans for connecting the sections of said top rail to spread the samefor causing the studs to enter the narrow portion of their respectiveslots, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED ABIGAII MOORE.

'itnesses:

J. W. BURTON, J. Rom. PACKER.

